It seems like plenty of companies are named after the individual(s) who founded or inspired them. Wal-Mart, Hilton Hotels, Disney, Ford, MGM (thatâs Metro, Goldwyn, & Mayer), and Dell are just a few.
Of course, there are also those names for which no one seems to know the origin. For the truly curious, Wikipedia has compiled a long list of company name origins. Weâve collected the highlights:
Kodak - Kodak is the completely original creation of George Eastman, the founder and inventor behind the company. He believed that the letter K seemed strong, and liked that no one would mispronounce the name.
Amazon - As one might expect, Amazon.com was named for the Amazon River, the most voluminous river in the world. Someone had some foresightâ¦
Lycos - This one comes from the word Lycosidae, the spider family that contains wolf spiders.
Coca-Cola - The world-famous beverage is named for the coca leaves and kola nuts that are used for flavoring. Itâs actually a lot more appetizing than Pepsi, which was named for the digestive enzyme pepsin.
QVC - Quality, Value, and Convenience.
Starbucks - Starbucks was named for the character Starbuck in Moby Dick. See, even the name is pretentious and overrated.
Mozilla - This popular web browser was originally designed to replace a program called Mosaic. Mozilla is a combination of âMosaic-killerâ and Godzilla.
Taco Bell - Taco Bell was named for its founder Glen Bell. Because you know itâs good Mexican food when it comes from a guy named Glen.
Interesting article, I really enjoyed it. Are going to make a follow up with more business names?